The Lakers played a poor game against the Blazers and broke a solid win-streak. They are now second in the Western Conference with that one loss. That is how tight things are in the Western Conference. One loss can cost a lot.

The Lakers need to show up strong to this game with energy and passion and they will win. If they show up like they did against the Blazers, they will lose. The Lakers need to take it to the Mavs. In addition, they also need to try to win the season series against the Mavs, so that they can have home court advantage in the playoffs, so this game takes on additional significance!

This sure is a game where I wish the Lakers had Bynum in the post. He would have made a big difference.

How have the GT's in the main forum been lately? I've been avoiding them because of the trolls and Laker zealots.

They have been pretty much the same lately, but since the Lakers have been winning more as of late, they have fewer pot shots to take. And, there have been a lot of Laker fans participating in them, so the trolls are out numbered. lol And yes, there are the zealots there as well.

Personally, I like the main forum for during the game and I like the Laker forum for post-game thoughts and analysis. Thats my two cents worth.

should be a good game.. lakers got a little rest so that can't hurt... last weeks pace was pretty hectic with the 3 games in 4 nights...
i look for a complete effort from the guys more energy and lets see if we can force a few turnovers late in the game..something we missed friday...

myself i'll be attending a reading of "horton hears a who" with the littlest one so i'll miss part of it...

Co-sign. He's a great hustle player to have in the Lakers rotation. Kobe, Gasol, and Odom are all good scorers and put up enough offense on their own, and Walton does a good job hustling and doing the dirty work for them. And once Bynum's back, this team will be freaky scary. He and Gasol should be monsters.

Lakers have such a high quality and deep team. I'm not going to get into the Memphis trade, but having a core of Pau, Kobe, and Odom, with Bynum to come back eventually, and then have guys like Fisher, Walton, Vujacic, Radman, Turiaf, Farmar, Ariza, etc. coming off the bench makes for a championship basketball team. If Spurs play the Lakers in the playoffs, it should be a great matchup. Right now I have you guys slightly above us, even though I am a fan of the Spurs.

Why are the Lakers so damn streaky? It's not just on offense--for varying stretches, they'll completely suck at everything: rebounding, defense, ball movement, and shooting (both field goals and free throws).

No reason why this game should be as tight as it is. Dallas is good, but the Lakers had them on the ropes. Then they decided to settle for contested jumpers, double Jason Kidd on screen/rolls (wtf?), and leave JET wide open for corner threes. Frustrating as hell.

Why are the Lakers so damn streaky? It's not just on offense--for varying stretches, they'll completely suck at everything: rebounding, defense, ball movement, and shooting (both field goals and free throws).

No reason why this game should be as tight as it is. Dallas is good, but the Lakers had them on the ropes. Then they decided to settle for contested jumpers, double Jason Kidd on screen/rolls (wtf?), and leave JET wide open for corner threes. Frustrating as hell.

Thats current Laker basketball. It drives me nuts when we have a 10 point lead and we settle for outside shots, when we should be driving it down thier throats to get them in foul trouble.